CCI clears SoftBank's $450-mn investment in food delivery firm Swiggy

Sources say funding is an extension of Swiggy's $800-mn round in April from investors such as Falcon Edge, Goldman Sachs and others, which took the company's valuation to $5 bn from $3.6 bn

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has approved the investment by SoftBank Vision Fund II in food delivery giant Swiggy. On Monday, the anti-monopoly watchdog wrote that the Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of a certain stake in Bundl Technologies (Swiggy) by SVF II Songbird (SoftBank Group entity).

According to the sources, Japan’s SoftBank is investing $450 million in Bengaluru-based Swiggy at a $5.5 billion valuation. Last month, Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank had reached out to CCI for approval on this deal.

Industry sources said the funding is an extension of Swiggy’s $800-million round in April from investors led by Falcon Edge, Amansa Capital, Think Investments, Carmignac and Goldman Sachs. The investment took the company's valuation to $5 billion from $3.6 billion, according to the sources.

According to the sources, SoftBank could put more than $4 billion to work in India in 2021 in the technology sector. These include edtech, healthtech, e-commerce, B2B marketplaces and software-as-a-service (SaaS). The investments will come from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, which has an investment outlay of up to $30 billion for the current calendar year.

SoftBank Vision Fund 2 has made big bets in India this year. E-commerce company Flipkart Group has raised $3.6 billion in funding in a round led by international groups that included Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global. This year banking technology start-up Zeta became the latest entrant to the unicorn club after raising $250 million in its Series C round from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Also, OFB Tech, which runs the Of Business business-to-business marketplace, was in advanced talks to raise $150 million from SoftBank.